Fertiliser industry: gas price increase to cripple agriculture sector: FAP

Any increase in price of gas for fertiliser industry will cripple the agriculture sector and grievously endanger essential food security of the country, Board of Directors of Farmers Associates of Pakistan (FAP) has warned the government.
In an urgent meeting of Board of Directors of Farmers Associates Pakistan (FAP) under the Chairmanship of Syed Hussain Jahania Gardezi, Vice-Chairman FAP, the BOD said the government has already levied 16% Sales Tax on Agriculture Machinery, Fertiliser, Pesticides, Seeds & other Agriculture Inputs besides other hidden taxes.
Talking to Business Recorder FAP spokesman Tariq Bucha said apart from the Withholding Tax on Rice, Cotton Seed & Sugar cane @1.5%, an increase of 100% in sugar cane and cotton cess, the GST on tractors and implements, fertilisers, all agriculture inputs such as pesticides, herbicides, seed and micronutrients has already doubled the farmer's per acre cost of product.
If the price of gas for fertiliser manufacturing industry is increased the cost of urea will rise to Rs 2, 000 per bag. Such increase in the price of Urea will kill the farmers whose cost per acre had already gone up by Rs 4, 500 Rupees per acre because of GST on inputs.
Bucha referred to the fertiliser sales data released by the National Fertiliser Development Corporation which shows a sharp decline of 20% (year on year) in Urea and 39% (year on year) in case of DAP. On a monthly basis there has been a drop of 3% in the sales of Urea and 45% in case of DAP.
Factually and analytically speaking Mr Bucha opined that the drop in sales has been because of the phenomenal rise of 53% in the price of fertiliser products since last year. This situation should not be ignored by policy makers as it will certainly reflect in the productivity of the agriculture produce eventually remaining below the demand level causing the prices' rise manifolds in the very near future, the proof of which is the recent increase in the Atta prices despite surplus wheat stocks.
Mr Bucha said it seems the policy makers are now determined to put maximum burden on the farmers to meet their deficit irrespective of the fate and plight of Pakistan's economy as they have miserably failed to generate it from the existing sectors where from they are only able to collect 63% by way of advance tax regime only.
He pointed out that the prices of Urea as of today in India were 397 Indian Rupees per bag (754 Rupees converted into Pak Rupees) and DAP is 609 Indian Rupees per bag (1,157 Rupees per bag if converted to Pak Rupee). How can Pakistani farmers compete in production when such great anomaly and injustice is done to the farmers of Pakistan?
He said that the farmers were totally wonderstruck at the farmer and country detrimental policy and were forced to rethink about their own subsistence as despite their best efforts they would not be able to afford such steep rise in the cost of production. It seems as a matter of policy Pakistan's policy makers have decided to concentrate more on import of agriculture products from India and other countries to cater to certain vested interests at the cost of the annihilation of the farmers of Pakistan.